Past time to consolidate city, state elections

I used to think elections were priceless.

But after witnessing another terrible turnout for the valley's municipal elections, I think June voting is a big waste of money -- and a bigger civic concern. And I'm not alone.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that we do away with city ballots altogether and crown outgoing Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman king of Southern Nevada (although he'd no doubt love the gig and finally make good on his promise to cut taggers' thumbs off).

No, it's past time to move Clark County's city elections from the spring of odd-numbered years onto statewide ballots in even-numbered years.

The final bills haven't been tallied for this year's votes, but the price of staging separate primary and general elections in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Boulder City and Mesquite can cost up to $2 million total. Public notices, printing and mailing hundreds of thousands of sample ballots, signage and the work of programming and hauling voting machines all over the valley -- twice -- isn't cheap. And it's even more expensive when you consider the cost per vote cast.

In North Las Vegas, fewer than 8,000 residents voted in Tuesday's election, either during early voting or on Election Day. That's 11 percent of the city's active registered voters.

In Henderson, about 13,200 voters took the trouble to decide a single City Council race, a turnout of 11 percent.

The high-profile mayor's race brought more Las Vegas voters to the polls, with about 55,000 citizens casting ballots, a 25 percent turnout.

The more civic-minded towns of Mesquite and Boulder City had turnout of 43 and 38 percent, respectively, but that pulled overall municipal turnout up to just 83,000, or 19 percent -- figures that translate to about $12 per vote for the general election.

That's not just an inefficient use of tax dollars. Municipal officers, who serve important functions, shouldn't be chosen by a tiny fraction of the taxpaying populace when they serve everyone in their jurisdictions. How can council members claim to have the backing of their wards when, in some cases, barely 1,000 people cast votes for them?

The public's cost per vote plunges in statewide elections, when turnout is much higher. Sixty-five percent of the state's voters went to the polls in 2010, and 80 percent turned out for the 2008 presidential election.

Fortunately, the 2011 Legislature made it possible for cities to remedy these problems when it passed Assembly Bill 132. Gov. Brian Sandoval signed it into law this month.

AB132 gives city councils the discretion to consolidate their municipal elections with state ballots. Similar legislation died in previous sessions for a couple of reasons. First, municipal officials enjoy having an election cycle all to themselves. They don't want to compete with presidential candidates, members of Congress and statewide and county officers for contributions, advertising airtime and signage space. Second, their campaign managers and political consultants like having some work every other spring.

AB132, as originally drafted, ordered the ballot consolidation outright. But as the 2011 session progressed, it was amended to leave the choice with each city -- and to give council members a big disincentive to support it.

The biggest headache with an election switch to even-numbered years is the expiration of current city officials' terms in odd-numbered years. Simply extending the service of council members and municipal judges another 18 months, keeping them in office until a statewide vote, could defy term limits and smack of favoritism.

So AB132 dictates that, should any of the valley's city councils decide to move their elections, succeeding terms will be shortened, not lengthened. Why do I suspect that some city council members might be reluctant to move up their next re-election campaign and potentially shorten their service?

Some politicians, however, recognize the fiscal and civic benefits of such a switch. Las Vegas Mayor-elect Carolyn Goodman and Councilman-elect Bob Coffin said they'd vote to move Las Vegas' municipal elections to even-numbered years, when voters are more engaged and much more likely to cast a ballot.

Such a move could be a political boon to council members. Think of how happy voters will be once they realize they'll go more than a year without getting annoying campaign robocalls or seeing the clutter of campaign signs on every corner. They'd actually have time to recover from the election fatigue that sets in every other Halloween.

Last week, Mesquite voters approved an advisory question to consolidate their elections with the state's, with 56 percent in favor.

Voters won't shirk their responsibilities by having to research a few more races on their statewide ballots, which routinely feature dozens of candidates and several ballot questions.

But a wide majority clearly think voting on just two or three races isn't worth the trouble.

The voters have spoken. Are Southern Nevada's city councils listening?

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.